


Year One

by Fear_The_Dragon_Lord



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Gen, future smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2019-09-14 20:47:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16920117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fear_The_Dragon_Lord/pseuds/Fear_The_Dragon_Lord
Summary: Hermione Granger was shocked to say the least. A tall woman, wearing green glittering robes, and small spectacles had come to her house no more than two months ago. The woman had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and told Hermione all about the Wizarding World, about how she was a witch, and most importantly, about Hogwarts, the school for Witchcraft and Wizardry that Hermione was to attend this coming September.





	1. Off to Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> First installment of the Fremione Series I'm making. This first one will be dedicated to following Hermione in her first year. All Installments will be in 3rd person, omniscient POV.

“Come on, Draco. You don’t want your first day at Hogwarts to start off by being late, now do you?” Narcissa Malfoy was making her way through the train station to platform 9 ¾ with her son in toe, and unknowingly, became the most angelic person in the world, at that moment, to a young Hermione Granger.

Hermione had insisted that her parents drop her off at the station so that she could attempt to find her way to the platform on her own. They were not too keen on the idea, but the knowledge that their daughter wanted to take some responsibility for herself and try to find her own way, struck the feeling of pride in them and they had made a compromise that they’d let Hermione take the lead, today, as long as she promised to write them once every other week.

It didn’t occur to Hermione that the Hogwarts Express would be hidden out of sight, amidst the muggle train station, so when she looked down to see the platform number written on her ticket, she wished she had her parents there to help. It took several laps, up and down the row of platforms and mild feelings of anxiety before Hermione thought that her plan of arriving to the station an hour early would be all for nothing if she couldn’t even get to the right platform. That’s when she heard the angel.

A tall woman with a pointed nose and long white-blonde hair was making her way down the station to platform 9. She said Hogwarts! Hermione thought. She probably knows where the platform is. She can help me. Hermione followed the woman and a boy, who looked like he was her son. Before she had even reached them, the boy ran straight ahead and through the brick wall between platforms nine and ten. Hermione had a brief moment of shock but quickly shook it out of her system and went up to the women before she too disappeared.

“Excuse me,” Hermione’s voice was full of uncertainty, but she still managed to hold a tone of respect towards the woman whom she was about to ask for help from. “Would you mind helping me get through to the platform? It’s my first year and I haven't the slightest idea on how to get to the Express.”

“Not at all.” The woman smiled warmly at Hermione and facilitated a proper introduction before turning Hermione’s attention back at the brick wall. “It’s rather simple once you get through your first time. Run straight at the wall and it will lead to the platform on the other side.” Narcissa said. “You go on ahead and I’ll follow behind to make sure you get through .”

Hermione thanked Narcissa and ran through the platform with much more ease than she had anticipated. Soon Narcissa was behind her. “Not too bad, yes?” Narcissa asked Hermione while ignoring her sons noise of disgust for conversing with a stranger, especially on who dressed as ridiculously as Hermione. Hermione nodded, thanked Narcissa one last time, and made her way to the loading box before heading inside the train with the small luggage that held her robe.

✿

It had become painfully obvious that most students were appalled by Hermione’s muggle clothes when she tried to interact with them. Consistent up-downs at her purple capris and baby blue polo inflicted self consciousness in Hermione. With her head down, she continued along the center path of the train. On her way to find a compartment, she ran into a frantic looking boy who’d lost his toad and decided to help him find it. But with each compartment she opened to inquire about the toad, she would be met with odd looks of disapproval. Half way through searching cabins, Hermione decided to change into her robes; it proved to be much more helpful when students would answer with a no and a promise to keep an eye out for the toad, than when her clothes had been so offensive that students couldn’t even be bothered to give a response.

There was a loud shriek that came from a cabin up ahead. Hermione thought it wouldn’t be too far off to think a toad would have caused such a reaction. She briskly marched over and threw the cabin door open. She was met with several colorful sparks that circled around her head before going out.

“Awe. Look Georgie, it’s a little firstie. Come to play with the big kids, have you?” A tall freckle faced boy with bright ginger hair smirked down at her. She immediately became aware that he was one of two boys that fit that description in this particular cabin. The boy who he spoke to looked at her and gave an identical smirk. “Fred Weasley,” the one standing next to her stuck his hand out and Hermione took it, grateful to have a more positive reaction in her presence. “That’s George, my brother, and that’s our friend Lee Jordan.” He let go of her hand.

“I’m Hermione Granger.” Before she could ask if they had seen a toad, Fred spoke up again.

“Would you be interested in becoming a test subject for some new products we’re making?” Fred asked and she made a face of horror at his question.

“No, I’m actually looking for a toad…” Hermione started.

“A toad?” Hermione looked over to see the pale, pointy nosed boy that she’d followed onto the platform. He swaggered up to her. “If you want to find a toad, I suggest you go look in a mirror,” Two boys and a girl who were standing behind him began to laugh. Hermione’s cheeks went pink and she could feel tears pricking her eyes, but she was determined to not let them fall. She had been worried about bullying, but experiencing it was much worse than worrying about it. “Now get out of my way, stupid muggle.” he pushed her backwards and if it wasn’t for Fred who steadied her, she would’ve made a complete fool of herself by falling to the ground in front of three upperclassmen. Hermione felt Fred push her, much more gently, to the side. She watched as he and George made their way to Draco Malfoy. In a matter of seconds, Draco had tentacles growing out of his nose and he began to panic while his band of goons stood there, not daring to say anything out of fear that they would face the same fate.

All tears that threatened to spill were now gone and Hermione let out a small noise that was a mix of amusement and disapproval. The twins walked back toward their cabin with identical triumphant looks on their faces.

“Don’t listen to that pisspot…”

“He didn’t know what he was saying…”

“You look nothing like a toad…”

“And if you did…”

“You’d be the cutest toad.” Hermione stared at them blankly for a second and then burst into a fit of laughter. She doubled over and put her hand on the wall to keep herself upright. Fred and George high fived each other, proud that they had made Hermione laugh. It took a minute for Hermione to catch her breath before straightening up.

“Well,” She said. “If none of you have seen a toad then I’d better get back to looking.”

“Feel free to come back and join us if you get bored looking for that toad…”

“And if you see either of our brothers, tell them we send our best regards.”

“Who are your brothers?” Hermione asked.

“You’ll know when you see them… ”

“One’s older…”

“One’s younger…”

“Red hair…”

“Freckles…”

“Like us…”

“But not quite as handsome.”

“Right. Less handsome versions of you two at different ages. Got it.” The twins both gave her a thumbs up before retreating back into their cabin.

Hermione continued her trek down the cabin and grew more and more disappointed with every no she received. One cabin at the end of the train, however, had been quite a refreshing surprise. She met Harry Potter, as well as the twins’ younger brother Ron, and helped Harry fix his glasses, which he seemed very grateful for. Hermione was really enjoying her time, now that she’d seemed to have gotten on good terms with a few other students.

Hermione started making her way back to the front of the train, to find Neville, to see if he had any better success. On her way there, she passed a cabin where Draco was frantically changing the colors of the tentacles, likely trying to remove them without success. She smiled and continued walking. Eventually she caught up to Neville, who was just as successful as Hermione. She told him to go find a cabin to sit in and that when they arrived they could just inform the conductor about the toad once everyone left the train; he agreed and went to go sit in a cabin with other first years.

Hermione was going to join, but decided to do one more sweep through. Again, she passed Draco and his goons, but this time she felt a twinge of guilt watching him try desperately to remove them. She couldn’t help but imagine how humiliated she would feel in his position. He might have been a git, but she didn’t think he deserved to spend his first day being humiliated. She marched back over to Fred, George, and Lee’s cabin and opened the door. She was greeted by an explosion of grey smoke. After it had cleared up, she made a face of irritation and the three boys who were on the ground tinkering with dirt.

“Ahem,” Hermione got the attention of the boys. “You two need to remove those tentacles from that boys nose.” She said, directing her attention to the twins. They scrunched their noses up in disgust at such a request.

“After what he said to you?” Lee said. “I might not have done something like that to him, but you have to admit, he kind of deserved it.”

“I’m not saying he wasn’t out of line, but it’s the first day of school and I think he’s been humiliated enough without the whole school seeing. Remove them… Please?” Hermione anxiously waiting for a reply. The three of them pushed their heads together and began whispering.

“Alright, we’ll make you a deal,” Fred said. “We have a big prank planned, but it’ll be difficult for the three of us to pull off alone. If you promise to help cover for us, then we’ll remove the tentacles from Malfoy.” Hermione didn’t approve of pranks all that much, but she thought, What harm could a few zapping handshakes or a fake cockroach cause? Boy was she misjudging the situation, magical pranks were completely different. Luckily for the twins and Lee, she didn’t know that.

Hermione and held out a hand, and Fred shook on it… and then George grabbed her other hand and shook on it, then Lee shook hands with Hermione while the twins shook hands with each other, then George again while Fred and Lee shook and before she knew it, the process had repeated; by the time it was over, she had shaken hands with each of them about five times.

✿

It wasn’t long until they arrived at Hogwarts. The twins had removed Draco’s tentacles and Hermione spent the rest of the trip in with Neville in his cabin. Now the first years were making their way down the aisle to the front of the Great Hall to be sorted. Hermione took this time as a chance to relay her knowledge to a girl who was walking next to her. She explained how the ceiling was bewitched to look like the night sky. The girl didn’t seem too impressed with Hermione’s abundance of knowledge.

It wasn’t until McGonagall called out Hermione’s name to be sorted that she realized just how nervous she was. It felt like an agonizingly long walk to the hat. The hat was placed on her head, and to Hermione’s disdain, it spent a whole four minutes trying to place her, that was a whole four minutes she spent sitting in front of the whole school that was waiting in anticipation. No one else up to this point took so long to get sorted. If Hermione remembered correctly, the longest had been 52 seconds.

Hermione began to panic, she couldn’t help but think that McGonagall had made a mistake, and that she wasn’t actually a witch… Hermione pushed the thought out of her head and was determined to prove she belonged, and she was glad she did, because as soon as she switched her mindset, the hat shouted “GRYFFINDOR!” The table clad in red and gold began to roar. As Hermione made her way to the still cheering table, she spotted Fred and George who were clapping their hands in a very obnoxious manner. The three of them made eye contact and Fred and George immediately started shouting about how they got the cute toad in their house. Hermione couldn’t help but laugh when a tall ginger boy, who was covered in freckles, reached across the table, giving both of them a hard whack on the head, before scolding them for referring to a first year as a toad.

“Thank you, Mr. Weasley. If you hadn’t hit them, I’d have done it myself.” Hermione said. She sat down next to the older Weasley boy. Taking in his look of confusion, she stuck out her hand. “I’m Hermione Granger. Your brothers told me there were more of you, I figured you were a Weasley, since you look just like them.” All three Weasley boys made faces of disgust.

“It is very nice to meet you too, Miss. Granger,” Percy said, taking her hand. “However, I can assure you that I am nothing like those two trouble makers.”

“I can’t believe you said we look like him!”

“Did you not hear the part about us being more handsome?”

“Clearly, he’s not on our level as far as good looks go…”

“We trusted you with the knowledge that we’re really hot and you betrayed us.” The twins went back and forth. Hermione was about to say something, but the sorting hat shouted out Gryffindor again and her attention was taken away when she saw Harry walking towards the table.


	2. A Birthday to Remember

Hermione thought that her dorm mates Lavender, Parvati, and Romilda were nice enough, but she hadn’t really connected with them during the first night… or the first two weeks for that matter. Even though making friends was proving to be difficult, she thoroughly enjoyed all of her classes. Harry was kind to her, but because of his friendship with Ron and Ron’s distaste towards Hermione, Harry would tend to choose Ron over her. Good news was, she hadn’t made any true enemies, Malfoy and his goons were unfriendly, but they wouldn’t go out of their way to interact with Hermione, whether it was because they were too busy harassing Harry or simply because they thought she wasn’t worth their time, didn’t matter, as long as they left her alone.

There was a certain relationship in particular that had developed, though. It wasn’t exactly a friendship, but it was something that Hermione felt was steady, something she could depend on. The Weasley twins were in constant trouble, always causing mischief, so Hermione took it upon herself to lecture them about the negative influence and results their actions would have. Her lectures only seemed to amuse the boys.

“You two better uncharm that torch to throw fireballs at Slytherins, you’ll hurt someone and get detention for the fifth time this year.”

“Awe, we didn’t know you cared so much about us, Granger.” Fred said.

“Obviously, you would always make a point to tell us the harm we might cause.”

“But you’ve never shown an interest in what would happen to us.”

“It’s quite flattering.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you actually enjoy having us around.”

“That’s why you don’t want us to get detention.”

“So that we’re available for you to spend time with us.” They finished together. Hermione scoffed, clearly, unimpressed with their deduction skills. Although, she did admit to herself that she did like having them around. When they weren’t putting others in danger, they did make her laugh. Not to mention, every interaction she had with them was rather positive. She decided to play along with what they said, seeing as her other tactics didn’t have much of an influence to get them to listen.

“You’re right. I do enjoy having you both around. Besides, if you two are in detention, then who’s going to make me laugh while I’m studying in the common room?” Hermione said, and she was quite pleased with the reaction she got from the twins. They were blushing to the tips of their ears at Hermione’s comment. “Guess I’ll just have to find someone else, someone funnier. Someone more handsome. Oh well, you two haven’t left me with any other choice.” Fred and George’s faces split into identical grins and they pulled Hermione into a sandwich hug, making many gushing noises directed at her.

“Oh, Mione, I feel like we’ve taken our relationship to the next level.” Fred said.

“We promise to stay out of detention as much as possible from now on.” George said. “We can’t promise no detention.”

“But we can promise less.” With that, Fred flicked his wand and the torch was back to normal.

Hermione, satisfied with her ability to get them to undo their mischief, attempted to make her way back to the Gryffindor common room, but Fred and George wouldn’t let go. She spent the entire walk, grumpily squished between them. Fred had his arms wrapped around Hermione’s left one, and George the same on her right, while both rested their heads on top of hers. Once they got to the common room, Hermione figured they’d let her go, but was sadly mistaken and started blushing madly when many people’s gazes turned towards her and the twins as they entered the room.

Fred and George dragged Hermione over to the couch and Fred tightened his grip to make sure she wouldn’t run off while George went to get Lee and some notebooks full of ideas for their joke shop products.

“Will you let go of my arm if I promise not to run off?”

“No… I’ll loosen my grip though,” Fred moved so he was leaning back and had his arm loosely linked to Hermione’s. “Better?” Hermione sighed and nodded before pulling a copy of Beginners Astronomy book out of her bag. “You’re reading, again?”

“Yes. Professor Sinistra assigned a foot of parchment on a constellation of our choosing. It’s due next week, and I want to get it done ahead of time.”

“You study too much. You’re a first year, you shouldn’t be spending all this time fussing over assignments and homework. You should do more fun stuff.”

“Studying is fun.” Hermione said. Fred scoffed. “Sorry to disappoint you, but getting detention isn’t my idea of fun.”

“You don’t have to get detention to have fun, you just need to not get caught having fun. George and I, on the other hand, have to take credit for our pranks, so of course we get detention.”

“But you said-”

“We said we’d stay out of detention as much as possible, not that we’d stop doing pranks.” Fred said. “Don’t worry, we’re good at not getting caught.” Fred booped Hermione on the nose. George and Lee were now making their way to the couch where Fred and Hermione were, hands filled with parchment and trinkets.

Fred joined his brother and friend on the floor so he could join in on the scheming. Hermione felt a slight chill on her left arm now that Fred had let go, taking the warmth of his body along with him. Hermione thought of scooting down to the floor to be closer so she wouldn’t be cold but immediately shook the idea out of her head and went back to her homework reading assignment, occasionally glancing up to peek at what the twins and Lee were doing.

✿

Hermione had successfully finished her assignments and homework and was able to turn them in with ease of mind. It was now the last day of school for the week and tomorrow was her birthday. Hermione decided that now would be a good time to send her parents a letter.  
Dear Mum and Dad,

Hogwarts is wonderful, I’ve been learning so much magic and keeping up in all my classes. Last week, I made a feather float up into the air and my charms professor gave me 5 points for Gryffindor house. I really miss you both, and I can’t wait to see you on the holiday’s. We should spend some time in Diagon Alley when I come back, so I can show you what the wizarding world is like. I think you would both enjoy it very much. That’s all for now, I’ll write to you in a fortnight. Also, make sure you give the owl a treat.

Hugs and Love

Hermione

Hermione proof read her letter three times before deciding she was happy with it. She folded up the letter and stamped it with a wax seal, then made her way to the owlry. When she got to the top of the tower, she was surprised to be met with the Weasley twins. They looked to be teaching an owl tricks. One was holding a picture of Percy and the other was holding owl treats.

“What are you two doing?” Hermione asked.

“We’re teaching Eroll to bite Percy.” George said.

“That’s horrible. Why would you two do something so mean?”

“ ‘cause it’s funny,” Fred started.

“And we’re bored.”

“What are you doing up here?”

“Who are you sending that letter to?” The two boys turned their attention to Hermione, who was now standing next to them.

“My parents. I promised to write them every other week.” Hermione said. She began to look around trying to spot one of the school owls that stayed up here for students that didn’t bring their own owl. It looked like they were all gone. She supposed the first month of school would be busy for those poor owls. “Would it be alright if I borrowed Eroll? I don’t see any Hogwarts owls available, and I want to make sure my parents get a letter, today, so they aren’t worried.”

“ ‘Course you can.” Fred and George said. They put the treats and pictures away, and stepped aside so Hermione could tie her letter to Eroll’s leg.

“He’s a bit out of sorts,” George said.

“Not the smartest of owls,”

“But he should be able to figure out his way to your parents.”

“Where do the live?”

“In a cul-de-sac in Hampstead.” After hearing the location of Hermione’s house, Eroll made his way to the window and left. “Thank you for letting me use your owl.” Hermione turned around and was planning on making her way to the library so she could read the chapter for Monday’s lesson, but the twins blocked her path. “Yes?” She said, with a do-you-need-something look on her face.

“You remember that favor you owe us?” Fred asked.

“The one you said you’d owe, if we remove Malfoy’s tentacles?”

“Well, we’d like to cash it in for tomorrow.”

“We’ve planned a great prank,”

“Took us the whole summer,”

“But, since we promised to try and stay out of detention as much as possible,”

“Just for you,”

“We had to make a few tweaks to the plan,”

“So we don’t get caught,”

“Let’s go to the common room and we’ll tell you all about it.” George finished.

“Umm… actually, I… would it be alright if I helped you a different day? Maybe Sunday, instead?” Hermione, despite not approving of these pranks, didn’t want to break a promise, and it wasn’t as if they made her promise to do a prank with them. No, all she had to do was be a cover. Either way, she would like to not have to worry about all this on her birthday. “Tomorrow doesn’t work for me.”

“Why?” Fred asked.

“You’re not planning on doing school work all day tomorrow,”

“To avoid helping us,”

“Are you?”

Hermione shifted nervously, she didn’t want to tell them about her birthday. It was supposed to be a quiet and relaxing day, not one full mischief. No classes. No homework. Just alone time. There was a small part of her that didn’t want to admit, the real reason was because she had no friends to spend her birthday with, this year, and she didn’t want anyone to think she was so lame that she was about to spend her birthday alone. 

“Well?” The two looked a bit annoyed. They thought she was trying to back out of helping them.

“I just really want some alone time, tomorrow.” Hermione couldn’t bring herself to look at them when she lied. They both crossed their arms over their chests. After a moment of silence and Hermione refusing to cave, the twins each let out a small defeated breathe.

“Fine.”

“Take tomorrow off,”

“We won’t pry, anymore,”

“But, you have to come with us to the common room,”

“And hear out our plan,”

“We’ll let you off the hook tomorrow,”

“But it’d be good to have a heads up about the plan for Sunday,”

“And what better time to tell you about it, than now?” The twins linked arms with Hermione, and the three made their way to the common room. Hermione thought it wasn’t the most ideal of situations, but it was better than telling them she’d be spending her birthday alone.

✿

The next morning, Hermione slept in an hour later than usual. She took her time waking up, and getting dressed. She put on some loose bermuda shorts and pink t shirt, tied up her hair, and made her way down to the great hall for breakfast. The sweet smell of maple and pumpkin juice made her smile as she sat down. Hermione piled two pancakes onto her plate and slathered it with fruits and syrup.

After finishing her food, she made her way to the owlry to see if Eroll had come back with a letter from her parents. She was happy to find the owl perched on a stand with a new letter tied to his leg. Hermione pulled some seeds out of a bag and gave them to the owl before taking the letter, addressed to her, from his leg.

 

Dear Hermione,

We are so proud of you, and so happy to hear that school is going well. We knew you would do an amazing job in your lessons, you always do. A trip to Diagon Alley sounds like a great idea, maybe we can get you a present while we’re there. We meant to get you one for your birthday, today, but we didn’t know how to send it with the owl, so we decided to just let you pick one out for yourself once you come back. We are so sorry we couldn’t get you something to open on your actual birthday, but hopefully you get to have a fun day anyway, with all your friends doing something fun. I really hope you plan on actually treating yourself to some cake instead of studying all day. Please take the day off and do something for yourself. We love you so much.

Love and Hugs

Mum and Dad

 

“Today, is your birthday!” Two voices from behind, made Hermione jump, and she spun around. She hadn’t even realized the Weasley twins were peering over her shoulder and saw her letter.

“You two scared me half to death,” Hermione said, clutching her chest. “And you shouldn’t read other people's letters. It’s rude.”

“Why didn’t you tell us it was your birthday today?”

“We wouldn’t have made you help with the prank, if we knew.”

“You should’ve told us.”

“We don’t mind pushing back our pranks to celebrate your birthday.”

“To celebrate my birthday? You really don’t have to do that. I don’t mind spending today by myself. I enjoy alone time.” Hermione said. She made her way to the stairs and began descending them. The twins were hot on her trail.

“You can’t spend your birthday alone.”

“We won’t allow it.”

“You know what, we’re changing our favor, you aren’t going to help us cover a prank on Sunday, you’re going to let us treat you to a day of fun.” There was a shuffle of paper and before Hermione knew it, she was being dragged down the hall and towards the fourth floor. 

“Where are you two taking me?” Hermione looked to one side and saw George tucking an old looking piece of parchment into his robe. Fred had a steady hold on Hermione’s hand as they ran, and her palms began to clam up. Soon the three of them arrived to a mirror at the end of the corridor. George pushed it aside to reveal a secret passage, Fred lit his wand and pulled Hermione in. George shut the door and caught up to the other two. Hermione was beginning to get worried, she had a feeling they weren’t supposed to be here, but neither Fred or George would answer her questions about where they were going.

After a few minutes Fred came to a stop, he let go of Hermione’s hand and began inspecting some wood panels. He pushed one in and it clicked before it popped out to reveal a handle. Fred opened the small wood panel door to a small room that looked like an office. 

The three of them made their way to the door out of the office after closing up the wall board. Fred cracked the door open and looked out to make sure the coast was clear. He then took Hermione’s hand and pulled her through what looked like an old tea shop, Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop. They were in Hogsmeade. Panic filled Hermione as they stepped out to the streets; and she began to hyperventilate. She wasn’t supposed to be here, she was breaking the rules. What would her parents think? She could be expelled from Hogwarts if they got caught.

Concern fell over Fred’s face, he held her shoulders, and bent down so they were eye level with one another.

“Hey, it’s ok. Shh. We aren’t going to get in trouble. I promise.” Fred pulled Hermione aside, so they were in the archway of an alley. George followed put a calming hand on Hermione’s back while Fred held her to his chest. “Hermione, breathe. You’re safe. We didn’t bring you here unprepared. We wanted you to have an enjoyable birthday. Come on, breathe. In. Out. Slowly. In… Out…” Hermione’s breathing slowed to a normal rate and she pulled back to look at Fred.

“What if we get caught?” Hermione asked, she was surprised that she hadn’t started crying yet, but there were no tears in her eyes. Fred held out his hand and George put a folded piece of paper in it. Fred handed it to Hermione, she opened it, it was a plagiarized Hogsmeade permission slip.

“Hermione?” She looked at George. “This is supposed to be a fun day for you. Give us an hour?”

“If you’re still not feeling well about this after an hour, we’ll go back right away. Does that sound like a fair deal?” It took Hermione a moment of thought, she did owe them, not only did she make a promise to them, but they stood up for her on the train. Slowly, she nodded in agreement to their deal. The twins high fived and each grabbed a hand, and pulled Hermione over to The Three Broomsticks, to treat her to a birthday butterbeer.

“What’s butterbeer?” Hermione was met with two identical shocked faces.

“You’ve never had butterbeer?” George asked.

“No. It’s not a drink that I’ve seen in any muggle cafes.”

“Muggles don’t have butterbeer?” Hermione shook her head.

“Well then, we are honored to buy you your first one.” The twins went over to the counter and ordered three butterbeers with ginger. They both sat across from Hermione and watched eagerly as Hermione took her first sip.

“Oh,” Hermione took another sip.“ That’s really good.” The twins looked very pleased with her reaction, and joined her in gulping down their drinks. By the time she was taking her last sip, Hermione had completely forgotten that they were breaking the rules. The rest of the day was spent exploring the small village. To the twins disdain, they spent most of their time in Scrivenshaft’s Quill Shop looking at stationary, but they sucked it up for Hermione’s sake. A good portion of their time was spent at Honeydukes though. Hermione had tried to buy a handful of Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, and Fudge Flies, but the twins wouldn’t allow it and insisted on paying.

Time quickly passed by, all three of them enjoying their time immensely. At six o’clock, they decided to head back to make it, in time for dinner. Although, Hermione thought she wouldn’t be able to eat much, since she had just finished a two pasties and a box of fudge flies, with the twins help of course.

Ron wasn’t too pleased when he noticed Hermione walking into the great hall, Fred and George on either side. It was weird, an insufferable goody two shoes with his brothers who were notorious for breaking rules. He expressed his irritation to Harry, who brushed it off as nothing to worry about.

The twins and Hermione parted ways when the twins saw Lee and decided that was their stop. Hermione thanked them several times, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks. She made her way over to where Parvati, Lavender, and Romilda were. Before Hermione had even taken her seat, the three other girls were eagerly inquiring about why she was with the twins, and if she could put in a good word for them. Hermione laughed it off and improvised, saying they just wanted to bug her while she attempted to study, but she wasn’t successful, seeing as they managed to follow her all around the castle, tossing exploding snaps at her feet as they went. 

Later that night, the girls stayed up late, gossipping and snacking on cupcakes that they swiped from the table, as a way to celebrate Hermione's birthday when they found out she was now twelve. It was a wonderful day, and Hermione couldn’t help but think it was the best birthday she ever had.


	3. Halloween

The following month did not go as Hermione had planned. She kept up on her school work, she wrote to her parents, but she still had no luck with making any really close friends. Despite the twins friendliness and despite people talking to her, none of them really acted like a true friend. Ron in particular was exceedingly rude and dismissive at her attempts to converse with him, which made it difficult for Hermione to befriend Harry, who seemed like the only one kind enough to accept her friendship. This particular morning, she had experienced a very harsh awakening when walking past the group of first year Gryffindor boys.

“It’s LeviOsa, not LeviosA. She’s a nightmare, honestly. No wonder she hasn’t got any friends.” Ron was talking about her. Hermione, at that moment, decided to make a beeline for the girls bathroom before anyone could see the tears running down her face. She was swift and successful at locking herself into the farthest stall from the lavatory door to the hall. There were still some girls there, so she tried her hardest to stifle her sniffling. Hermione wasn’t too successful though, because a few girls had seen her face just before she disappeared behind the door.

“Hermione? Is everything alright?” Parvati had come into the girls bathroom to check on Hermione after noticing the red puffiness on her face. She sounded genuinely worried, but her attempts weren’t effective.

“No, everything is not, and I really just want to be left alone, right now, please.” Hermione was surprised that she was able to stop crying long enough to get her response out.

“Are you sure? You and I can go to our dorm and talk. You don’t have to stay in her by yourself.” Parvati tried to reason with Hermione as best she could.

“I really don’t want everyone to see me like this.” Hermione couldn’t think of a good reason to get Parvati to leave, but she knew there was no way Parvati was going to get her through the crowded halls to their dorm without being seen. 

“How about I go get Lavender and Romilda and the four of us can talk in here?”

“No, no. It’s bad enough you’re seeing me like this, I don’t want anyone else seeing too.”

“Ok, I won’t get anyone else… but can you please let me stay and help? You don’t have to tell me what happened, but I don’t want to leave you here alone until you’re feeling better.” There was a pause after Parvati finished talking, and then Hermione slowly opened the stall door. There were tear marks running down her face and her eyes were all puffy. She sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek. To her surprise, Parvati’s face was only full of concern, no judgment, no mockery, just concern. Parvati pulled Hermione into a gentle hug and let her finish crying out all her sadness, on her shoulder.

After a good long cry, the two of them moved over to the ledge at the front of the bathroom, where they sat and talked for what felt like hours. Hermione had relayed the events that led her to crying in the bathroom. Parvati’s face scrunched into a look of disgust.

“Ugh, you should forget about Ron. He wouldn’t know a good thing if you threw it at his head.” Hermione giggle at Parvati’s comment. “You’re brilliant Hermione, you’ve managed to get top results in all our classes and the term has only just begun. Trust me. You’re amazing and you don’t need to listen to anything he says.”

“Thank you Parvati, that really means a lot to me.” Hermione said. They hugged again and Parvati looked down at her pocket watch.

“Oh look, it’s almost time for dinner. We should start heading to the Great Hall.” Parvati said.

“Alright, let me wash up first and I’ll meet you there.”  
“You sure? I can wait and we can walk there together.”

“I’m sure. It’ll only take a minute and I’d like a moment alone anyway.”

“Ok, if you’re sure… and Hermione?”

“Yeah?”

“You can talk to me anytime, you know that, right? We’re friends now, and friends talk to each other.” Parvati said with a warm smile. Hermione swelled. A friend. She had a friend. Hermione nodded and smiled, then Parvati left, promising to save Hermione a seat.

The cold water felt nice on Hermione’s skin as she patted away the sweat and tears. She went into one of the stalls to get toilet paper to blow her nose. It took a few minutes, but she felt like she was finally ready to go to the Great Hall for dinner.

There was a large grunting noise to Hermone’s left, and attached to it was a big, ugly, troll. She knew instantly that she was in danger, having read about them. It was slow and didn’t seem to notice her until she accidentally kicked the wall with her foot, in an attempt to put as much distance between her and the troll.

The next few moments were a blur, Hermione had made a few desperate moves to get herself out of the way of the trolls swings. It wasn’t long after that Harry and Ron, to her surprise, came to get her. They had used what little magic they knew, in a conjoined effort, to take down the troll. It was a success, but they weren’t ready with an explanation for the teachers and Dumbledore, who had arrived, demanding answers.

“It was my fault professor.” Hermione told McGonagall. “You see, I read all about trolls and I thought I could handle it. If it weren’t for Harry and Ron coming to save me, I’d probably be dead.”

McGonagall’s lips pursed and she let out a breath of disappointment. She took five points from Gryffindor for Hermione’s foolish behavior, and awarded Ron and Harry five points each, for sheer dumb luck. Then McGonagall pointed them off to the direction of their dormitories.

✿

As soon as Hermione, Harry, and Ron entered the Gryffindor common room, they were immediately greeted with cheering and a few pats on the back.

“Well done, you lot.” George said as he put his arm around Ron.

“You passed initiation,”Fred said.

“We didn’t think you had it in you you Ronikins,”

“Taking down a giant troll,

“And in your first year, no less.”

“Of course, we had no doubts that Hermione could do it.” A light blush rose to Hermione's cheeks at Fred’s comment.

“Right you are,” George confirmed.

“We thought Harry would have done fine,”

“But we assumed it wouldn’t be easy for him,”

“Considering he’s got more of an aptitude for flying than combat magic,”

“No offense, Harry.”

“None taken.” Harry said, breaking the twin’s back and forth comments, before Fred continued.

“So, how’s it feel, now that you three are the most famous Gryffindor’s and first years at this school?”

“I’d hardly say we’re famous. Like McGonagall said, we only beat the troll ‘out of sheer, dumb luck’ I could have been killed if you two hadn’t showed up.” Hermione said.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have gone looking for the troll.” Ron said.

“I didn’t,” Hermione snapped. She turned to Ron. “I only said that because I knew that based on my reputation for being a good student, meant McGonagall would let me off easy… Turns out I was right.” Ron’s whole face and ears went beet red as he turned his head to the ground.

“Thank you, Hermione, for taking the heat. I really appreciate it.” Harry said.

“You took the blame?” Fred asked.

“Yes.” Hermione said. Fred’s face split into a grin and George made his way over to Hermione’s other side.

“Oh Hermione, we’re so proud of you.”

“Taking credit for breaking such a big rule.”

“Clearly we’ve been a great influence to you.” Fred and George said in Sync. At this, Hermione pushed the two boys off of her, mumbling under her breath something along the lines of needing to study. 

Parvati caught Hermione before she could make it to the stairs and pulled her into a tight hug, rambling about how worried she was and how she knew she shouldn’t have left Hermione alone. To Hermione’s surprise, Lavender and Romilda made their way over and tried to comfort her in a similar fashion that Parvati did.

“Hey, you guys’ I’m fine. Everything is alright.” Hermione said. But the girls kept on rambling and questioning her. “How about this, lets go get started on our Charms assignment. We can work on it together, and while we do, I’ll answer all your questions about what happened. Deal?” The three girls nodded in agreement to Hermione’s proposal and they all went off to get their school bags.

It was a long night of stories and studying. At one point, the twins and Lee made their way to the windowsill that was next to the table Hermione and the other three girls were doing their homework at. They were listening intently to the story Hermione was telling between Charms essay questions. Occasionally, Hermione would glance over at the three boys who were sitting, knees pulled to their chests, admiring smiles plastered on their faces, absorbing every word Hermione said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this chapter short? Yes. Do I feel bad about that? LOL no. Will I try to make longer chapters in the future? Yes. Will I try to spice things up a bit more between Fred and Hermione? Yes. Will the spice stay PG? Considering they're 12 and 13 at this point in the fic, yes.  
> I do sincerely hope everyone is enjoying reading this fic, though. Stay tuned, my dudes.


	4. Chapter 4 | The Charmer

The following months at school were much more enjoyable for Hermione. She’d gotten on the good side of many students, after being apart of the trio that took down a troll, and felt much more at home, especially in her dorm room. She became very close to Parvati, not to mention Harry and Ron had warmed up to her, after the troll incident. She didn’t hang out with the boys as much as she did Parvati, Romilda, and Lavender though. The girls’ spent many nights up late gossipping and doing school work with one another, after a week of inquiring about Hermione’s duel with a troll, of course. 

Much to Hermione’s annoyance, the girls teased her about a possible crush developing between her and the twins. She would always brush it off as nothing, exaggerating that she didn’t know them well enough for that. Soon, however, that would change.

✿

The crisp frost of the late November air hit Hermione’s face after stepping out of Hagrid’s hut with Harry and Ron at her side. They’d just learned a key piece of evidence towards their quest to figure out what Fluffy the dog was guarding. Hagrid had mentioned the name of Nikolas Flammel, a name that sounded so familiar, it sat at the front of Hermione’s brain as she tried desperately to remember where she’d heard it.

The trio made their way to the great hall to try and give their brains a break and enjoy a nice supper. As soon as Hermione sat down between Harry and Parvati, the twins made their way over. Fred pushed Neville down the bench, from where he was sitting across from Hermione and now instead, sat across from Harry. Fred took the empty spot that Neville no longer occupied, George plopping down next to him.

“So, Hermione, we’ve noticed you’re good in Charms.” Fred said.

“Umm, I’m alright, I guess.” Hermione shrugged.

“Don’t be modest Hermione, you’re a natural.” George said.

“We were wondering,”

“If you could give us some study tips?”

“Really?” Hermione’s face lit up. “Of course I can. If you two aren’t doing anything tonight, we could meet up in the library and do our assignments together. I’ll teach you all my study tips and you can give me a sneak peek at what I’ll be learning in third year charms.” On the other side of Harry, Ron scoffed, thoroughly irritated with the twins attempts to get close to Hermione. All three of them ignored Ron.

“Deal!” The twins said in sync.

“How’s 7:00? After dinner?” Fred asked.

“Perfect. I’ll be there.”

✿

Hermione and Parvati were discussing magical creatures that they had learned about earlier that day in their Care of Magical Creature’s lesson. They were both finishing up their gingersnap cookies and cinnamon ice cream, dinner had ended about fifteen minutes ago. After the tables had cleared, the two parted ways; Parvati in the direction of the common room, and Hermione in the direction of the library.

Hermione arrived at exactly 7:00 on the dot and made her way to the study corner. There she spotted a head of bright red hair, attached to a Fred Weasley. He was leaning back in a chair, feet propped up on the table, twirling a quill absent-mindedly. Hermione was surprised to see that he was alone. George wasn’t anywhere in sight. Hermione made her way over anyway and set her bag down, taking the seat next to Fred.

“You’re alone.” Hermione said.

“George had to help Lee with something and I didn’t think it’d be very gentlemanly of me to not show up.”

“Oh, should we reschedule? Do you need to help Lee too?”

“Nah, those two can handle it. Doesn’t mean we can’t hang out though.”

“… It’s so odd not seeing you two at each other’s side, but it’ll be nice getting to know you two, one at a time. So, where should we start?”

“Well, I have a question,” Fred started. “If I wanted to charm doors to not open for Snape unless he does a chicken dance, what charms would I use?”

“Fred, be serious, we’re supposed to be doing charms work, remember?”

“Ok, but can I ask an off topic question first?”

“Sure.”

“What’s your favorite muggle drink?”

“Oh,” Hermione was taken aback. She didn’t think that wizards would be interested in anything in the muggle world. “Probably Cadbury’s Drinking Chocolate. It’s a mix you add to milk and then drink it. I like mine served cold sometimes, but it’s better when it’s warm.”

“That sounds really good. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that in Diagon Alley. Maybe someday, you can take me to a muggle store and teach me how to buy it so I can try.” Fred said. He was sitting with his arms on his knees, leaning forward now, eager to ask more questions about the muggle world. “Did you ever attend a muggle school?”

“Yes, I went to a primary school for six years, before getting my letter to Hogwarts.” Hermione had completely forgotten about her charms assignment. She was enjoying talking about the muggle world. She had been missing it more than she realized, and talking to Fred about it, made her happy. “We had many enjoyable common core classes, there was language arts, maths, history, and I got to learn how to speak another language… I chose French, because my parents and I visit France a lot.”

“It must have been difficult leaving all that behind and coming to an entirely new world that you didn’t even know about.” The sincerity in Fred’s voice shocked Hermione, but it also made her feel like she was safe and free to express her feelings.

“It was, but I’m glad for the opportunity.”

“I’m glad you had the opportunity too. I like having you around.” Fred said, smiling when Hermione blushed. “Pulling pranks and breaking rules is ten times more fun now that you’re around to bug with it.”

“Arse.” Hermione gave Fred’s arm a light hit.

“Language, ‘Mione. That’s no way to speak to your elder.” Fred tutted and Hermione scoffed. She liked the new nickname Fred gave her.

“… Does the wizarding world have primary schools too? What’s wizarding life like before Hogwarts?”

“For my brothers, sister, and I, we just learned the basics from our mum. Some of the richer families go to private schools to learn the basics, but most families are taught at home.”

“Your mum sounds amazing. It must be a lot of work teaching all of you.”

“Yeah, she is amazing. You should come to the burrow sometime. You can meet her… and I’m sure Ginny would love having another girl there.”

“I’d like that very much.” Hermione and Fred sat in a comfortable silence for a long moment, both enjoying one another’s presence. “We should probably get started on our charms homework, before it gets too late.”

“Right.”

✿

Having been so drawn into their discussion about charms, Fred and Hermione hadn’t even noticed that it was 10:00 o’clock, an hour passed curfew. Hermione immediately scrambled to pack all her things, desperately hoping that they wouldn’t get in trouble for being out past curfew, since they were only doing school work.

“Hey, ‘Mione, calm down.” Fred gently put his hand on hers, getting her attention. “I’ll make sure we get back to the common room without getting caught. I know a shortcut.”

Fred made sure the coast was clear, before grabbing Hermione’s hand and sprinting to a tapestry, in the hall outside the library, to hide behind. Hermione thought back to when Fred took her to Hogsmeade, he had held her hand then too, but this time heat rose to her cheeks, her hand tingled, and her stomach was doing flip flops as she stayed on Fred’s heels.

It took a few minutes, but the two finally made it to the fat lady portrait, who scolded them for being out so late, but they had gotten there without getting caught, which is what mattered. The common room was almost empty. A few seventh years were sitting in the corner discussing career options. Fred and Hermione made their way up the stairs. Before parting ways to their seperate dorms, Fred leaned down and placed a kiss on the back of Hermione’s hand, that he was still holding.

“G’night ‘Mione. Get some sleep.” And with that, Fred turned away and went to his dorm, leaving a stunned Hermione, who struggled to come to her senses and make her way to her own dorm. Falling asleep almost immediately, a smile refusing to leave her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would really appreciate feedback, it would help me with future chapters if I new what parts of this fic that readers enjoy and what part readers don't enjoy.


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